Affiliations: Department of Computer Science and Engineering,
National Center for Information Technology in Education, University of
Nebraska, 256 Avery Hall, Lincoln NE 68588-0115, USA. E-mail: {lksoh,knobel,jiang}@cse.unl.edu
Abstract: I-MINDS provides a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL)
infrastructure and environment for learners in synchronous learning and
classroom management applications for instructors, for large classroom or
distance education situations. For supporting the instructor, I-MINDS includes
a teacher agent. The teacher agent allows the instructor to interact with
students, manage Q&A; sessions, administer quizzes, post evaluations, form
groups and monitor individual and group performances. For computer-supported
collaborative learning, I-MINDS, which stands for Intelligent Multiagent
Infrastructure for Distributed Systems in Education, provides a student agent
for each student. Each student agent monitors and models its user and carries
out group formation with other student agents behind-the-scene. I-MINDS
provides standard online collaborative features such as chat rooms and
whiteboards and implements a structured cooperative learning mechanism called
Jigsaw. The system also incorporates multiagent coalition formation algorithms
for forming peer groups. I-MINDS also provides a group agent for each peer
group that monitors and evaluates its assigned peer group. I-MINDS has been
deployed and evaluated in an introductory computer science course (CS1).
Results show that intelligent tools such as I-MINDS can be used in a real-time
environment to support student cooperative learning activities, and also as a
testbed to collect instructional or pedagogical data for better understanding
of student collaborative learning. This paper describes the I-MINDS framework,
implementation, deployment, and test results comprehensively.
Keywords: Computer-supported collaborative learning, multiagent system
